Small World
by ilovemygelding
Summary: Danny realizes that it is a small world after all....
1. Chapter 1

Small World

**Disclaimer: I do not own WAT or any of its characters, Vicki, however, is my own creation!**  


CHAPTER 1

The cold January wind was whipping against his face as Danny made his way to his favourite New York coffee shop. Mrs. Arturo's was, in Danny's opinion, the best coffee in New York City, possibly even the world. He tried to o every morning for a cup of coffee, although it was not always possible because of his job.

Danny loved his morning pit stops. Gave him time to think about life as he sat in his booth sipping on his coffee. Mrs. Arturo always knew just what he wanted; he never had to order it.

"How are you today, Danny?" Mrs. Arturo asked as she handed him a coffee.

"Oh, same as always." He replied with a smile.

"You know, you'd feel much better if you wore a scarf and a hat on cold winter days." She told him in a motherly tone while shaking her finger at him.

Danny chuckled. This was typical morning conversation between the two of them. Mrs. Arturo had a soft spot for Danny, and Danny had always like Mrs. Arturo, even when she tried to pry into his life.

"What about the women Danny, handsome man like you should be beating women off with a stick!" She said as she sat down across from him.

"You know my job isn't exactly girlfriend friendly." He smiled at her.

Mrs. Arturo was about to comment when the bell jingled, indicating another customer arrived.

"Excuse me, Danny." She said patting his hand.

Danny nodded and turned to look at who had gotten Mrs. Arturo's attention. Danny was surprised, hadn't expected someone so young….and pretty to come into Mrs. Arturo's shop. It was the first time he's seen her. She wasn't on the regulars. Mrs. Arturo's shop was the "whole in the wall" type establishments, and in a city with a Starbucks on every corner, no one usually paid attention to it. Danny was immediately interested in the girl. Mrs. Arturo was talking with her and they were laughing. The exchanged a few words, Mrs. Arturo got her a coffee, then they hugged and the mystery girl left.

"I'm sorry about that Danny." Mrs. Arturo said as she came back to sit with him.

"Who was that? Niece, cousin, distant relative?" He queried with a grin.

"Why? Did she catch you eye, Danny?" She smiled.

"Oh, you know, I always like to make new friends."

"Well, she is not a distant relative. She came for a semester of school at NYU, but is now taking time off and trying to find a job. Originally from Canada, I can't remember where exactly. A very nice girl, a little overwhelmed by the big city, I'm sure she'd appreciate new friends." Mrs. Arturo smiled at Danny with a twinkle in her eye. "I'd better get back to work dear, have a good day."

"Thanks for the coffee" Danny winked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: same as before, I do not own WAT or any characters...**

CHAPTER 2

"What's got you so happy?" Martin asked Danny as he walked to his desk.

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked innocently.

"Oh come on! You walked in here this morning with a goofy grin on your face, and you've spent most of your morning in your own little world." Martin quipped. "Who's the girl?"

"What makes your think there is a girl!" Danny replied, trying no to give too much away.

Martin just stared at him. Vivian, who had overheard their conversation decided to jump in.

"In all the time we've known you Danny, the only time you've ever been like this is when you have a huge secret, or there's a woman involved. Since you haven't been taunting anyone, I doubt it's a secret." Vivian said matter-of-factly.

"Oh man, am I that obvious?" Danny asked, clearly shocked by Vivian's revelation.

"I can read you like a book." Vivian replied without even looking up from her computer screen.

"Ok, well there isn't a girl, well not really, I just saw her at the coffee shop this morning. She was cute, that's all." Danny replied, trying to get them off his back.

"Who was cute?" Samantha asked as she walked into the bullpen with papers in her hand. Danny groaned while Vivian and Martin laughed.

"Who was cute?" Samantha asked again.

"Danny's new girlfriend." Martin smiled

"Danny has a girlfriend! Wow, I mean, you always have a girl, but never a girlfriend." Sam replied, now totally interested in what Danny was going to say.

Just as Danny opened his mouth to explain everything properly, Jack walked out of his office. "Ok everyone, we have a new case. Jenna Watkins, 25 years old, missing since 3pm yesterday, was reported by her roommate."

Danny let out a sigh of relief, new case, meant no time for idle "let's-pick-on-Danny" chit chat. Sam turned to him saying "This isn't over Taylor." Danny knew for sure that she'd be hassling him until she got what she wanted.

xxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, they were still working on the Jenna Watkins case. Samantha and Danny were looking through records at their respective desks.

"So what's her name?" Sam asked without even looking up from what she was doing.

"I don't know, and even if I did, I probably wouldn't tell you." Danny answered.

"Oh come on Danny! You expect me to believe that! I know you are a charmer, and you are trying to tell me you saw a pretty girl and you did nothing?" By this time Samantha is at Danny's desk, not giving up.

"I saw her for a minute at the coffee shop. Mrs. Arturo told me a bit about her, that's it!"

"Uh huh…..Are you going back to see if she's there?"

"Maybe if I happen to need coffee at the same time tomorrow morning." He replied.

"Good, find out more about her so you can share." Sam smiled, satisfied with Danny's answer.

_Please review, should I continue with this?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Dislaimer: Don't own WAT or any of its characters**!

**A/N:**_ Thanks for the reviews guys! I feel much better knowing others actually like the story too:)_

CHAPTER 3

By 7am the next morning, the team was still looking for solid leads in their case.

"Hey Danny, why don't we go get everyone some of that famous coffe your always raving about?" Sam said smiling.

Danny glanced down at his watch; it was around 7:30 yesterday that he was at Mrs. Arturo's… "Ya, sure, it could help us look at this stuff with fresh eyes." Danny replied, trying to hide his enthusiasm.

Samantha and Danny took everyone's orders and headed to Mrs. Arturo's shop.

xxxxxxxxx

Fifteen minutes later, Danny pulled up in front of Mrs. Arturo's. He walked in with Sam, and immediately looked around at the other clients in the shop. He had to admit, he was disappointed that "she" wasn't here.

"Danny!" How are you this morning?" Mrs. Arturo asked joyfully. "Who is this lovely lady?"

"Mrs. Arturo, this is Samantha Spade, we work together." Danny smiled as he introduced them.

"Oh it's great to finally meet you, Samantha! Danny talks so much about his colleagues." Mrs. Arturo said as she pulled Samantha in for a hug.

Samantha was obviously surprised by the show of affection, but smiled as she returned the hug. "Danny is always raving about your coffee, so I thought I'd try it myself."

"Of course, sit down, relax, I will get you two some coffee."

"Actually, we are pressed for time, we wanted to get some coffee to take back to the rest of the team." Danny said before Mrs. Arturo went to get their coffee.

"Sure not a problem! You must have been working hard all night long. Danny you're wearing the same clothes you had on when I saw you yesterday morning." Mrs. Arturo said as she went behind the counter.

The door jingled as it opened behind Sam and Danny. Mrs. Arturo and smiled. "What can I get for you today, dear?" she asked in a motherly tone.

Sam and Danny turned to see who she was talking to. Danny's heart caught in his throat. There she was again. She looked flustered today, she was trying to catch her breath, and her cheeks were flushed. Danny guessed she was rushing to get somewhere. Sam looked at Danny and nudged him with her elbow. "Try not to drool, okay Romeo?" she whispered. Danny shot her a look as she chuckled.

"Could I get a cappuccino, and a muffin please? Actually, no muffin, just the cappuccino." She replied quickly as she took of her mittens and loosed her scarf.

"Victoria, you cannot skip breakfast, you'll take the muffin. Have a bran muffin, it's good for you." Mrs. Arturo shook her head and pointed to the muffins.

"I know, but I'm running late, it's my first day at my new job, and I guess I'm nervous, I just can't eat anything right now." She replied smiling nervously as she tried to dig change out of her wallet.

Danny was off in his own little world, he knew her name, and she seemed so nice, polite, even though she was nervous, and in a hurry. He guessed that was why she looked so flustered. Mrs. Arturo's next question jarred Danny out of his little reverie.

"Job! You never told me! Where are you working?" Mrs. Arturo pressed.

"I got the call yesterday, it's short notice, but it's a great job! I'm going to be a secretary administrator type person for the FBI. Can you believe that! FBI! I get to work with the agents, and in the big building. I got a security pass with my picture. I know it's crazy for me to be excited about a security pass, but it sounds like a good job, a nice change of pace." Victoria replied, talking a mile a minute and blushing at herself.

"Well talk about a small world!" Mrs. Arturo exclaimed. "Danny and Samantha here work for the FBI too!"

Danny could have died on the spot. Talk about fate. He couldn't believe his luck. She was going to be working in the same building as him! All of a sudden he felt butterflies in his stomach. God, he hadn't has those in awhile.

Samantha extended her hand "It's nice to meet you." She said smiling.

The girl blushed even harder. "Oh God, you must think I'm some crazy freak, all giddy about a security pass." She said as said raised one hand to her forehead and shook Samantha's hand with the other.

Sam laughed, "Don't worry Victoria, I was excited for my first day too, I mean, we have national security clearance!"

Danny could tell Victoria relaxed immediately in response to Sam's comment. He liked her. She just seemed so genuine to him. He could tell Sam was making an effort to set her at ease. Danny thought that was funny, Sam never really went out of her way for strangers; maybe Victoria just had that effect on people. Danny knew that he'd probably do anything she asked of him at that very moment.

"What's the matter Danny, cat's got your tongue?" Mrs. Arturo asked in a teasing tone.

"What? Oh, no, sorry, I'm Danny, nice to meet you Victoria." He said trying out her name.

"Nice to meet you too, and please, call me Vicki." She said smiling right at him. "I'm sorry, I really don't mean to be rude, but I have to get to work."

"We could give you a ride, since we are heading to the same place." Sam offered.

"Actually, I need to walk it, figure out exactly how long it takes to get there. But thanks for the offer." Vicki replied.

"Are you sure, it's pretty cold outside." Sam said as she looked out the window.

Vicki smiled "It's okay, really, I lived in Canada, I used to walk half and hour to get to school in 0 degree weather without a hat or snowpants because they weren't cool. I'm proud to say that now; I see no shame in wearing a scarf and toque to walk outside in the cold."

"Really, 0 degrees! Oh that's just cruel…" Sam said in disbelief.

"It's not that bad. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" Vicki said laughing. "Perhaps I'll see you around at work?"

"Sure, good luck with your first day." Sam said.

"Victoria, your muffin. Take it, you can eat while you walk to work." Mrs. Arturo told her as she put a muffin in a bag and handed it to Vicki.

"Okay, okay, thanks Mrs. Arturo. I better get on my way. See you around." Vicki said waving goodbye.

"Have a good day, dear." Mrs. Arturo said in parting.

"It was nice meeting you Danny." Vicki said as she opened the door to leave smiling right at Danny.

xxxxxxxxx

"Oh man, you are so far gone it is scary." Sam said once she and Danny were back in the car.

"What are you talking about?"

"Danny, you barely said two words from the moment she arrived, to the moment she left. You spent most of that time in your own little world!" Sam couldn't believe he was trying to act innocent.

"I just wasn't feeling chatty, that's all. You two seemed to hit it off."

"She's nice. Wait until Martin and Viv hear about this." Samantha said smiling.

Danny sighed. He knew he was pretty transparent in his behaviour in the shop. He couldn't help it. Martin was going to have a field day with this….


	4. Chapter 4

**Dislaimer: Same as the last 3 chapters...**

CHAPTER 4

"You really only said 'nice to meet you'?" Martin asked, clearly having a hard time believe Danny's behaviour.

"I think you should ask her out." Samantha smiled.

"I agree." Martin nodded.

"Well, now that I know you approve, I will most definitely ask her out." Danny said sarcastically.

"Good, that's all I wanted to hear." Sam said satisfied.

"Where are Jack and Viv?" Danny asked.

"Oh, they are meeting with the new team member." Martin replied pointing in the direction of Jack's office.

"A new agent? I didn't hear about this!" Sam asked a little upset at the prospect of a new addition to the team.

"Actually, not an agent. Apparently our team has a bad reputation for admin tasks, so Van Doren has hired an 'administrator'". Martin said, sceptical about the whole thing.

Suddenly, it clicked in Danny's brain. He looked at Sam with wide eyes. Sam had a huge grin on her face; she was obviously thinking the same thing: Victoria.

"Oh this is good!" Sam exclaimed.

"We don't know for sure…" Danny interrupted "It could simply be a coincidence."

"What are you two on about?" Viv asked as she walked towards them.

"Viv! The new girl, tell us about her." Sam said, practically begging.

"I never said it was a girl…" Martin stated.

"She's very nice, and young, but apparently, according to Van Doren, exactly what we need. How do you know about this?" Viv asked, interested in Samantha's enthusiasm.

"Is her name Victoria?" Sam questioned, and Danny groaned.

"It is, how did you…"

"Danny! Aren't you excited! Come on, this is your chance!" Sam was starting to get giddy, which was highly unusual for her.

Martin gasped "Is she the girl Danny was talking about?" Sam nodded.

"Small world, isn't it Taylor?" Vivian winked at him and started laughing.

"Come on you guys, we should focus on this case, stop acting like a bunch of kids." Danny waved his hand, trying to sound calm. Inside he was nervous as all hell. What would he say? What would he do? Why was he losing his cool, she's just a girl, just a girl……

Jack cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. They all looked up to see Jack standing next to a young brunette. She looked so little here compared to when he saw her at the coffee shop. Danny thought to himself, could be due to the fact that she had shed layers of clothing, and was now dressed in black dress pants with a white button up blouse. She had changed from her winter boots into nice dress shoes with a couple of inches of heel. Danny smiled to himself, even with the heels, she looked so little. He could tell she was terrified to be the centre of attention. Sam elbowed him in the ribs, knocking him out of his thoughts.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to out new team assistant, Victoria Todd. Please be nice, she's an assistant, not a slave, so you'll continue to get your own coffee and do your own paperwork. She's here to help with phone calls, retrieving records, that sort of thing." Jack explained.

"It's nice to see you again Vicki." Samantha smiled warmly. "Danny and I met her at the coffee shop this morning." Sam explained to Jack.

"It's nice to meet you" Martin said as he got up and extended his hand.

"Likewise." Vicki replied smiling nervously. "Hi Danny." She said as she gave Danny a small wave.

"Hey" was all Danny could muster.

"Okay, enough chit chat, Victoria's desk will be over there." Jack said as he pointed to the entrance of the bullpen. We will include her in out case briefings so she has a general idea of what's going on. Any inter-office calls to other departments will be handled by Victoria. Apparently she can talk anyone into doing anything." Jack said smiling.

Danny totally believed it. Vicki and Samantha could have all the men in this office wrapped around their little finger. The already seemed to be getting chummy, this could be bad….very bad…

"Alright, let's get back to work. Samantha and Vivian, I want you two looking over what we have on Jenna Watkins so far. Danny and Martin, you two go back to see the roommate and boyfriend. Vicki has a bit of Bureau protocol to read, and I will be in my office calling in some favours to help us out here." Jack clapped his hands together and everyone went to work.

As Vicki sat at her desk, Danny noted that he had a great view of her from his desk.

"Hey man, let's go, you're driving." Martin said as he threw Danny the keys.

"Ya, let's go." Danny replied, glancing at Vicki one more time.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The Jenna Watkins case turned out to be a jealous boyfriend situation. He didn't agree with a break up, so he locked her in a storage locker. Danny was impressed with the way Vicki handled everything. She was efficient and effective. She had fantastic people skills. Jack saw it too, and Vicki was immediately delegated to contact families and deal with them while they were at the office.

"You have incredible patience." Jack commented while the team held its end of case meeting.

Vicki blushed at the compliment "Oh, thanks, I guess years of babysitting and teaching kids how to ride horses has finally paid off."

"It's a great thing. You're very much a people person. It's great for us, since you now officially get to be our team greeter." Jack replied smiling.

"Oh that's good news!" Sam sighed. "It's not my favourite part of the job. Scared, upset, impatient families. Better you that me."

"Well, it sounds like you're a keeper!" Martin winked. "So how did you get to this job, if you don't mind my asking?"

"That's a great idea, I'm all for a game of twenty questions." Sam said sitting back in her chair.

Vicki laughed and blushed. God, Danny loved that about her. He was dying to get to know her.

"Well, I'm from a small town in Ontario. Actually, it's a French town, so I'm bilingual, not that speaking French really helps here." Vicki laughed nervously. "I lived in the same place my whole life. I'm sad to report that my family is fairly scandal free, so no juicy stuff there. I grew up on a horse farm, that where I get my patience from, I guess. I did the serious horseshowing thing until I started University, then I started getting into teaching instead. I finished my undergrad, and came here for grad school at NYU. I did a semester, but was tired of going to school, so I decided to work full-time."

"Any siblings?" Sam asked, obviously interested.

"Yes, one older brother and one younger brother. My older brother started moved out for school when I was 10, so I only saw him on holidays really. My younger brother is closer in age to me, so we were closer. My mom died of breast cancer when I was 13, so it was my dad and my younger brother after that." She said. After a moment of awkward silence, she continued. "Oh, I'm sorry, too much info, right?" she looked around nervously.

"No, no, it's okay, you're just so well adjusted. I can't believe it." Viv said giving her a reassuring smile and pat on the arm.

Vicki smiled back and relaxed again.

"Wow, so how old are you then?" Martin asked.

"23" she said. Samantha's eyes almost bugged out of her head. "Is that bad!" Vicki asked getting nervous again.

"No, sorry, you look, and act, older is all." Sam replied quickly.

"Well, thank you!" Vicki replied, obviously happy with Sam's response.

The questions continued for another half an hour, until they decided to head home. Danny managed to squeeze in a few questions. He loved how she looked right at him when she answered him. He was going loopy over this girl….


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own WAT or anything to do with it!**

**A/N:** _Thanks for the reviews guys. I've actually finished this story, and started another one. Here are the next 2 chapters, once I get the others typed up I'll post them too :)_

CHAPTER 5

A month had passed since Vicki has joined the team. She was great to have around. Having someone to notify family members, reassure parents and run interference between departments was fantastic.

During that month, Sam and Vicki had gotten much closer. They had "girl's nights" at least once a week. Vicki has always done it with her friends, and had convinced Sam to join in. Danny was much more comfortable around her now, and they could carry on a conversation smoothly. "Baby steps" was how Danny was approaching the situation. He often met up with Vicki at Mrs. Arturo's shop in the mornings and they would walk to work together or share a cab. Yes, life was good for Danny.

"Hey Danny" Sam greeted him as she walked into the office.

"Good Friday morning to you Samantha." Danny replied.

"Well, well, well, someone is in a good mood this morning." Sam smiled, "Care to share?"

"No reason, you know, it's Friday I guess." Danny smiled. He was secretly working a plan in his head. Today he would ask Vicki out. He has hoped to do it at Mrs. Arturo's that morning, but Vicki wasn't there. He'd have to get her alone sometime today.

"Okay everyone, we have a case." Jack said as he walked into the bullpen. The team was surprised to see Van Doren following close behind. "We have a high profile case. John Arrows was reported missing by his manager an hour ago."

"John Arrows? As in the movie star John Arrows?" Danny asked.

"Precisely." Van Doren spoke up. "I don't need to remind you that professionalism is very important in this case."

"Right, and with Vicki not here, we will each have a bit of extra weight to pull. She would have been perfect for dealing with the media, but we'll make do. Danny and Samantha, you take the manager, Martin and Vivian, you look at the hotel staff. I will take on the media and family." Jack stated.

"Wait, where is Vicki?" Martin asked.

"She had a family emergency. She flew home late last night. She was going to call today and update me on her situation. In typical Vicki fashion, she spent more time apologizing for leaving us hanging than she did telling me where she was going." Jack smiled.

"Gosh, I hope she's alright." Viv said, a bit concerned.

"She can hold her own." Jack said. "Let's get to work."

---------------

By Friday afternoon, the team has a few leads, but nothing concrete. They were, of course, all curious about Vicki's impromptu trip.

"Think it's one of her brothers? Her dad? She never mentioned anything to me, what about you? You two seem close?" Danny asked Sam as they were stuck in traffic on their way back to the office.

"Relax Danny, I'm sure it's a minor emergency. She said she'd call." Samantha replied. "You seem awfully concerned."

"She's a friend, you know?"

"You were going to asked her out, weren't you?" Sam asked eyeing him.

"Yeah." Danny sighed. "Think it's a sign?"

"Definitely not! You still have to ask her out, I know she'll say yes. Trust me on this one." Sam winked at him.

"Really, did she say anything about me to you?" Danny started getting excited at the prospect that he had a chance.

They were interrupted by Sam's phone ringing. She checked the caller ID. "It's Vicki." She said to Danny.

"Hey kiddo, how are you?" Sam answered. Danny listened to Sam's side on the conversation.

"You sure you're ok?

"Oh honey, I didn't mean to upset you." This made Danny shift nervously in the driver's seat. Sam listened intently.

"Have you told Jack?"

"Uh huh, are you sure? I mean, you should take more time…"

"Ya I know, okay. Take care. Call me when you back, okay? Let us know if we can help, ok? Promise? Ok…" With that Sam hung up, and let out a sigh.

"So?" Danny asked looking over at her nervously.

"Okay well, she's flying back later tonight. Her best friend was in a car accident. She is in the hospital, she's pretty badly hurt." Sam explained.

"And she's coming back so soon?" Danny was surprised.

"Ya, well, get this, her friend has a kid, and guess who the legal guardian is…"

Danny sighed "Vicki."

"Right. Apparently she's the only one that can be trusted with the kid. Anyways, Vicki wants to work, and staying at the hospital won't do any good, so she's coming back. Her neighbour runs a daycare, and has agreed to baby sit while Vicki works until the kid can go home." Sam explained.

By this time, they were back at the Federal building.

"That is a lot of responsibility for a 23 year old" Danny stated.

"That's a lot of responsibility for anyone." Sam pointed out.

Jack flagged them down as they walked past his office. "Hear from Vicki?" He asked.

"Ya, she called me." Sam replied.

"Did she sound ok?"

"She started crying when I asked her how she was, but calmed down. I can't believe how she's taking it all in stride." Sam said.

"She was pretty adamant about with me that she would be back on Monday. She's brave. No many people would deal well with her situation." Jack replied.

"I guess that's Vicki, right? Always trying to do what's right." Danny suggested. It was another thing he liked about her.

"You're right. Okay, let's get back to work." Jack said slowly.

Danny tried to concentrate on the case. He has been looking through pages of records forever. It was midnight now, he figured Vicki was back in NYC by now. He started to wonder about her new responsibility. How old was the kid? Did Vicki have that much experience with kids? She had mentioned she babysat, but this was just surreal.

About two hours later, Sam wandered up to Danny's desk. "Vicki just called. She's back at her apartment. Her flight went well, and she seemed okay. She had a little breakdown on the phone, but insisted she was okay, and didn't need any help tonight."

"That's good." Danny said giving Sam a weak smile.

"Jack said we should go home and get a few hours of sleep."

"Right, I guess I'll see you in a few hours." Danny said as he stood up and put his jacket on. He was so tired, but immediately scolded himself for it. What he feels probably didn't even come close to what Vicki felt at this moment.

Sam watched Danny leave. She knew he felt bad for Vicki. Everyone on the team did, but it was different with Danny, she couldn't put her finger on it…


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Don't own WAT or any of its characters! **

CHAPTER 6

By 10am , the team was back at work on the John Arrows case. They were all tired of having the media all over their every move. Jack's horrible temper did not help smoothing things out with the media.

Sam checked her email and groaned. "You have got to be kidding me…"

"What?" Martin asked tiredly.

"The annual winter gala, that's what. Apparently your dad is the guest of honour." Sam replied.

"Oh, don't try to fool us." Danny smiled "We all know you love to get all dolled up for a night of mingling and dancing."

"We've always been mid-case during these, so I've never gone." Sam said.

"My father will never let me skip one of those, so you can bet that we won't be on call that night. When is it?" Martin smiled.

"Next Saturday, Valentine's Day, how absolutely fantastic." Sam scoffed.

"It's a good excuse for you to ask Vicki out, Danny." Martin pointed out.

Before Danny could answer, Jack walked in. "Okay, so I cannot deal with the media, so I handed it over to Van Doren, who in turned called Vicki in."

"Is she crazy?" Danny exclaimed "She only just got back!"

"I know, I was pretty pissed, but Vicki is on her way. She couldn't get a babysitter, so she's bringing the baby with her." Jack sighed, feeling bad about the whole situation.

"Baby?" Sam asked.

"Ya, her friend's baby. The one she is taking care of, I thought you knew…"

"Wow, I was thinking more toddler, not baby." Sam replied.

"Awww, poor girl. She must be so overwhelmed." Viv said shaking her head. "I remember what I was like when I had Reggie, and I had Marcus to help, and I wasn't working."

"She's got Danny." Martin winked. That was enough to lighten the mood enough for everyone to crack a small smile. Even Danny blushed a tiny bit.

Ten minutes later, the elevator doors dinged, and the team looked up, holding their breath. First a security guard stepped out pushing a stroller with one of those fold up playpens and a diaper bag in it, then Vicki stepped out carrying the baby.

Everyone was shocked. They just stared as she thanked the security guard and he went back into the elevator. The baby was so small. Danny has expected at least a 6 month old, but this one looked much younger. Vicki easily cradled it in one arm. She was dressed in her street clothes, jeans and a pink hoodie. Even from a distance, Danny could tell she had been crying. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun and she wore no makeup. Danny just wanted to take her in his arms and hold her until it was all better.

Samantha was the first to get up and she rushed over to Vicki. They hugged; Danny admired how Vicki was careful with the baby, like she'd been doing it forever. Danny saw Vicki's shoulders start to shake. Vivian jumped out of her seat and rushed over to the girls. She took the baby from Vicki. Once Viv had the baby, Vicki broke down in Samantha's arms. After about a minute, she glanced at Danny, and then broke out of Samantha's hug. She wiped the tears off her cheeks as she tried to pull herself together. Once she had calmed down, she took the baby back from Viv.

"Hey kiddo." Martin said softly as Vicki walked in the bullpen with Sam and Viv.

"Hey yourself." She smiled. "Sorry about that little display."

"No, hey, you don't need to apologize; we're here, anytime you need it okay?" Martin said as he gave her a quick hug.

"Thanks guys." She replied; for a second, Danny though she'd break down again, but she didn't.

"Who is this little cutie?" Martin asked hoping to distract her.

"Oh sorry, where are my manners!" Vicki laughed. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Miss Ella Anne Lawson. I just call her El for short."

"Wow, she's pretty cute." Sam smiled.

"You want to hold her?" Vicki asked.

"Oh no, I've never held a baby that young…" Sam put her hands up.

"She won't bite, I swear." Vicki joked as she looked at Martin.

Martin laughed. "Too little for me!"

"Oh come one! She is just a baby! Two months old, only 11 pounds, you'll barely even notice it!" Vicki said laughing. She was obviously enjoying that everyone seemed afraid of such a small being.

"Danny'll do it." Sam volunteered. Danny's face paled instantly.

"Great!" Vicki smiled. "I'll set up the play pen while you hold her. That was she can sleep while I deal with the media that has Jack and Van Doren going crazy."

"Oh, I don't know..." Danny stuttered

"You'll be fine, here sit down." She instructed. Danny did as he was told, he was scared as hell, and he knew it was obvious. Vicki peeled off a few of Ella's layers before walking up right up in front of where Danny was sitting.

"Okay, ready?" She asked with her eyebrows raised. Sam, Martin and Viv were watching this play out with great amusement.

"Uh no, not really…."

"That's okay, you'll be fine." She reassured him. She bent down closer to Danny and placed Ella in his arms. "Okay, make sure you support her head. Good!" Vicki smiled. She stood with one hand resting on Ella and the other on Danny's arm. Her face was dangerously close to Danny's. She looked up at him and smiled. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds. She suddenly realized where she was, and pulled back. "There you go. You're a natural!"

"Yeah, I guess." He laughed nervously.

Everyone else has noticed their not so subtle moment together. Sam was so happy; she had a hard time keeping it to herself.

"Want some help with the playpen?" Martin offered.

"Ya, sure, that would be great. Can you fill me in on what's going on so far?" Vicki asked.

The team explained what they knew so far. After setting up the playpen, Vicki took notes so she could deal with the media.

"You know Danny; you can get up and walk around while you're holding her." Vicki teased.

"I don't want to drop her. She's awake now, and she's squirmy. Am I doing it wrong?" He asked. He didn't trust himself at all, and couldn't understand why Vicki trusted him with a baby.

"You're doing fine. Bring her here; I'll put her in the playpen while I make my phone calls."

"You want me to carry her to you?" He asked in disbelief.

Vicki laughed. Viv, Martin and Sam looked up from what they were doing to watch Danny.

"It's only a few feet Danny, you can do it!" Sam encouraged.

Danny slowly got up and walked one step at a time towards where Vicki was. As she took Ella from his arms, he couldn't help but notice how close they were, and how she was actually touching him. He actually blushed this time. Thank God Vicki didn't notice, but Sam and Martin both did.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** _Okay everyone, here are the last two chapters of the story. This has been a greta experience for me, I didn't think I'd get such a positive response...I have another story I'm working on, so I'll eventually post that. The nice weather has finally arrived, so I'm spending all my time outside. My horse should have her baby any day now, so I'm practically camping out with her at night which makes for great writing time! Enjoy:)_

CHAPTER 7

An hour later, Vicki had managed to calm down the media. This made work much easier for the rest of the team.

Danny spent the rest of the day going through phone records and stealing glances at Vicki while she talked on the phone. Sam finally broke the silence.

"Hey Vicki, did you get the invitation to the gala?"

"The winter gala?" Vicki asked as she turned in her chair to face Sam.

"Ya."

"I got an e-mail about it…" Vicki replied as she looked into the playpen when she heard Ella starting to wake up.

"So? You gonna go?" Sam asked, giving Danny a quick glance.

"I'll have to see, I mean it's a week away, and if I still have Ella, I dunno…" Vicki started.

"What about your neighbour? If you arranged it now, maybe she'd be able to watch her." Sam said as she watched Vicki pick the baby up. "You need a night out, Vicki."

"I know, maybe I'll ask her when I get home. I don't think I even have a dress suitable for a gala." Vicki smiled. "We'll have to find ourselves hot date Sam!"

Danny and Martin raised their eyebrows waiting for Sam's response.

"Well, of course! There's a cutie down in white collar…and the tech guy! You could totally have him." Sam winked.

"I'll look into it." Vicki laughed. Vicki's phone rang; she sighed and put on her headset to answer it.

Sam looked expectantly at Danny, like she expected him to ask her to the gala at that very moment. Danny tried to play dumb, so he looked down at the papers in front of him. Minutes later, Danny looked up at Vicki. She was standing holding Ella on her chest, rocking back and forth. She was focussed on the phone call, but also very aware of the baby she was holding. She looked tired and slightly frustrated. She looked over at Danny, and caught him looking at her. She blushed and smiled, but held his gaze. The person on the other end of the conversation must have said something that she didn't agree with, because her face changed to and angry look and she turned her back to Danny to continue her conversation.

"Just do it Danny." Sam whispered. Danny turned to look at her. She had definitely seen everything.

A few hours later, Danny could tell Vicki was about to fall asleep at her desk. Sam had noticed too.

"Hey Vic, why don't you go grab a bite to eat?" She suggested. "I'll watch Ella for you."

Vicki sighed. "Okay, you want anything?"

She took everyone's orders, and was getting up to go when Danny spoke up. "Hold on, I'll go with you…"

"Great, thanks Danny." She smiled.

Vicki and Danny left together. As soon as they were in the elevator, Danny decided to bite the bullet.

"So, uh, about the gala, you, uh, want to go, um, with me?" Danny asked looking at his hands.

"Like, as a date?" She asked looking at him.

"Ya, I mean, if you want…" Danny said nervously.

Vicki smiled and reached to touch his arm "Sure, I'd love to…"

Danny couldn't believe it. He was sure he had a dumb grin on his face. The elevator doors opened and Vicki stepped out.

"Are you coming?" She asked turning around to face Danny who was just standing in the elevator.

"Ya, sorry" He said stepping out of the elevator into the main lobby.

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The afternoon quickly turned into evening, which, in turn, fell into night. By midnight, they finally had a solid lead. Jack sent Martin and Danny to pursue it. Vicki was happy that Ella was being such a good baby. The day could have been much worse.

"Okay Vicki, I'm going to send you home." Jack said. "It's been a long day, and you need your rest."

"Are you sure Jack?" She asked.

"Yes, of course. We'll call you when we need for the press conference."

"Right, okay, won't argue with you there." She smirked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Don't own WAT or any of its characters!**

** A/N: **_This is the last chapter, thanks for reading it through to the end:)_

CHAPTER 8

The week flew by. It took until Tuesday night to find John Arrows. Turns out, he had run away with an underage fan. Sam and Vicki were very disappointed, apparently he was a heartthrob and they were looking forward to meeting him.

Danny was getting excited for the weekend. Sam and Vicki had been planning for the gala all week long. Vicki was in good spirits since she received word that her friend would make a full recovery.

"So when do you take Ella back?" Martin asked.

"Well, I think I'll go home for my birthday next week, so I'll take Ella home then." Vicki replied. "I'm going to miss having a baby around."

Sam raised her eyebrows and looked at her.

"Not that I want a baby of my own, yet" Vicki laughed "It's just fun to have someone to go home to, and talk to, you know?"

Sam laughed "You know, a boyfriend could fill that need and then some. Danny's easy to talk to…" she hinted.

Vicki laughed and blushed slightly. "Okay, well, I'm off to pick up my dress, wanna come Sam?"

"Sure, this paperwork is boring anyways." She said just as Jack was walking in,

"Okay guys, you are officially off duty until Monday." Jack stated. "You have Victor Fitzgerald to thanks for this."

"Aw, he's such a nice man." Vicki replied.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her like she was growing a second head. "Are we talking about the same Victor?" Danny asked. "As in Martin's dad Victor?"

"Ya, I've talked with him on the phone a few times, he's very nice." She replied, and again, everyone just stared.

"Maybe he'll show you his true colours tomorrow night." Martin supplied.

"Oh come on! He can't be that bad!" She said as she got her stuff ready to go.

"I have tons of stories for you," Sam said "Let's go…"

"Wait! What are the plans for tomorrow?" Martin asked.

"Oh right" Sam laughed, looking at Vicki.

"Well, we are meeting at 3 to help each other with hair and make up, so we'll be ready for 6, right?" Vicki replied.

"Sounds about right, What time is your neighbour taking Ella?" Sam asked.

"Noon, it give same time to clean up the apartment and run errands." Vicki stated.

"Okay, so how about you boys pick us up at 6 at Vicki's?" Sam suggested.

"Sure, we'll be there at 6." Martin said

"See you tomorrow" Vicki waved goodbye.

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Vicki's phone rang at 5 minutes to 6.

"Hello? Okay, I'll buzz you in. It's apartment 712." Sam smiled as she hung up.

"They're on time!" Sam called to Vicki, slightly surprised, as she slipped on her shoes.

Two minutes later there was a knock at the door. Sam opened the door to find Danny and Martin both dressed in tuxs, standing with smiles on their faces.

"Wow, you look fabulous!" Martin said. He was obviously liking Sam's crimson dress that clung to her curves in all the right places. Her hair was in a cute updo with curls falling down to frame her face.

"Thanks Martin" she said as she kissed his cheek. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"Vicki, are you coming?" Sam shouted.

"No, I'm not coming out!" Vicki yelled from the bedroom. "I look like a hooker!"

Sam turned to Martin and Danny "She thinks the dress is too revealing." She explained.

Martin raised his eyebrows and looked at Danny. Sam went to knock on the bedroom door. "Vicki, come on, you're overreacting. Come out and show the guys and they can tell you what they think, ok?"

The door opened and Vicki came out. Danny's breath caught in his throat. Her hair was down, and curly. She had on a light blue dress. Danny could see how she thought it would be too revealing. This was a girl who never undid more than the first button on her blouse.

"Wow, Vic, you look amazing" Danny breathed.

Vicki blushed, raising her hand over her chest. "Thanks" she replied avoiding eye contact.

"It looks to you like your boobs are popping out because you have a bird's eye view." Sam said moving her hand off her chest.

"Ya, well so does any guy who is taller that me!" Vicki pointed out.

"Right, well that's what Danny's for. His job is to keep them far enough away so they don't get a good look." Sam waved Danny over.

Vicki stepped away from Danny and put her hand over her chest again. "Well, what about him! He'll see!"

"Ya, well that's his payment for doing his job." Sam winked. Vicki gave Danny a look, and he returned it with a dopey grin.

"We're gonna be late ladies, let's go." Martin said smiling. Danny offered Vicki his arm, and he was happy when she took it. He couldn't help but glance down quickly. She was obviously expecting it, and elbowed him in the ribs. He blushed and she just giggled.

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The drive to the gala was fun. The boys went all out and rented a limo. It was not how Vicki had expected it. Music was blaring and people were already out on the dance floor.

"Wanna dance?" Vicki asked Sam

"Let's find our table first." Sam winked. Martin and Danny were baffled. All of a sudden they were totally different people.

Within 10 minutes, Sam and Vicki were out on the dancing up a storm. They were laughing and dancing with Jack's girls to the song 'Baby Love'. Once the song ended they came back to their table. Danny was surprised when Vicki gave him a kiss on the cheek before she sat down.

"We just need to catch out breath" Vicki said smiling. Danny smiled, she was so confident in this setting. He could sit and watch her dance all night long.

As the next song started Hanna and Kate came running over, "It's the Sugar Pie Honey Bunch song!" Kate screamed.

"Okay, let's go!" Vicki said imitating Kate's excitement. To Danny's surprise, she grabbed his hand "Come on, let's go."

"Oh I don't dance." Danny stuttered.

"Well, you do now." Vicki laughed. "Come on Danny, it'll be fun." Danny hesitated, but got up and followed Vicki and the girls onto the dance floor.

"I can't believe I'm in a tux, dancing to 'Can't Help Myself'." Danny said after Vicki and the girls started dancing around him.

Vicki threw her head back and laughed. 'God, she's beautiful.' Danny thought to himself.

After two more songs, they all sat down to eat. After a few awards and Victor's speech, the music started up again. By this time, Hanna and Kate were out for the count. The slow songs were starting up.

"Would you like to dance?" Danny asked Vicki leaning into her.

"I thought you didn't dance?" she replied smiling and putting a hand on his knee.

"I'll make an exception." He smiled back.

They walked out to the dance floor hand in hand. 'Open Arms' was playing as Danny put his hands on Vicki's waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"This is nice." She sighed resting her head on his shoulder.

"Maybe we should do it again." He hinted.

"Ya, maybe" She laughed lightly. At the end of the song, they found themselves in one of those cliché moments. Staring into each other's eyes, in each other's arms.

"I think we're supposed to kiss now." Danny smirked.

"Yeah, I think we are." Vicki replied, her heart racing.

The kiss was more than Danny could have imagined. It was tender, yet full of desire and passion.

EPILOGUE

"Okay guys, I have the phone records for Thomas Maverley's cell and home phones." Vicki said walking into the bullpen.

"Okay, thanks. Don't you think you should sit down?" Martin asked offering his chair. "You've been standing all day…"

Before Vicki could answer, Danny spoke up without even looking up from his computer. "She doesn't like to sit, it hurts her back."

Vicki smiled, "Have I complained about that too much?"

"Just a little, but I forgive you" Danny smiled.

"And you should!" Sam laugh, "She's carrying your child!"

The team dealt with Vicki's daily complaints, and took it all in stride. She was after all, 7 months pregnant. She looked fantastic, and aside from weird cravings and a constant sore back, she was having a great pregnancy.

Eight months after the gala, Danny and Vicki were engaged, six months after that, they were married, and 2 months after that they announced that a baby was on the way.

Sam and Martin were getting married next month, even though Vicki tried desperately to convince them to wait until after the baby was born.

"Taylor." Vicki said as she answered the phone. Danny loved hearing her use his name. He would often catch himself staring at her while she did the simplest things, like fold laundry, or cook supper.

As he watched her talk on the phone, she brought her left hand up and rested it on her belly. Danny smiled; it really couldn't get much better than it was right at this very moment

END


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